Tag Archives: suspense and thriller fiction

Hard Choices To Make in Dark Consequences by Amanda Siegrist @amanda_siegrist

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I have been reading Amanda Siegrist’s work for some time now, so to get a copy of Dark Consequences, which was published in March was wonderful. And we do have some hard choices that will need to made in this love story with a twist.

Dark Consequences

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I love a story that grips me early and Dark Consequences by Amanda Siegrist does just that.

Abby was a secretary for a criminal defense attorney in Minnesota, but she knew how to take care of herself. She had moved there with her best friend, Brandon. She was happy with her life, but there was one thing missing, her brother, Cooper. He was a psychopath who murdered people without compunction.

A cop in love with a woman who’s brother killed his sister. NOW…he was going to hunt him down and exact his own revenge.

It had been love at first sight for him and Abby. How could they have a future? Abby was afraid that Tate was going to kill her brother, because he had killed his sister and her goal was to stop him. Who would find Cooper first?

WOW. The twists and turns in the many layered chilling mystery kept me ‘flipping pages’ to the very end. The characters are not all good or all bad, complex yet loyal to the end, willing to sacrifice whatever necessary to get the job done.

The romance was hot and heavy between Abby and Tate and I love the addition of Stromberg…the three Musketeers.

I love a story that keeps on giving and I see more of Consequences to be dealt with in my future.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dark Consequences by Amanda Siegrist.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Every choice has a consequence…

Detective Tate Powell is consumed by two things—the woman who managed to capture his heart with a single look and to catch the man that killed his sister. When he finds out the man he’s been seeking, the man he will kill with his bare hands, is none other than his girlfriend’s brother, he knows his entire life is over. Because nothing will stop him from seeking revenge, even if it means losing her.

Abby Forrester never knew she could fall in love so easily, but Tate slipped under her defenses without even blinking. She should’ve never confessed her brother is the man that killed his sister. But now that she has, she’ll do everything in her power to protect him from ruining his life—and from killing her brother. Even if she has to do the unthinkable. Turn against him.

ABOUT AMANDA SIEGRIST

Amanda Siegrist

Love! Gimme some love and heaps of romance. I have a sappy heart that just loves two people meeting, going through the cycles of a relationship, and ultimately, falling in love. Give me a good book like that and I’m a happy camper:)

I write contemporary and romantic suspense, but I am partial to suspense. I just love a good mystery.

Besides writing, I love baking, crafts, and baseball…oh, and meeting new people. *smiles*

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

MY AMANDA SIEGRIST REVIEWS

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Giveaway Murder by Munchausen Trilogy by M T Bass @Owlworks @GoddessFish

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions.
A police procedural sci fi thriller ripped from future headlines!

After Jake shoots and kills a murder suspect who turns out to be the son of a powerful city councilman, he finds himself demoted to the Artificial Crimes Unit, tracking down androids hacked and programmed to be hit men.

When his case of an “extra-judicial” divorce settlement takes a nasty turn with DNA from a hundred-year-old murder in Boston and a signature that harkens back to the very first serial killer ever in London, Jake finds himself tangled up in the brutal slayings of prostitutes being investigated by his former Robbery/Homicide partner, Maddie–who is now his lover.

But a madman, The Baron, is just getting started with his AI recreations of Jack the Ripper’s brutal crimes. And Maddie and Jake are teamed up again to stop the carnage as the Baron’s army of human replicants imitate history’s most notorious serial killers.

“It might not make sense, but the beloved Media tags it ‘Murder by Munchausen.’ For a price, there are hackers out there who will reprogram a synthoid to do your dirty work. The bad news: no fingerprints or DNA left at the crime scene. The good news—at least for us—is that they’re like missiles: once they hit their target, they’re usually as harmless as empty brass. The trick is to get them before they melt down their core OS data, so you can get the unit into forensics for analysis and, hopefully, an arrest.” [excerpt from Murder by Munchausen]

Artificial Intelligence? Fuhgeddaboudit!

Artificial Evil has a name…Munchausen.

Read an Excerpt

From The Invisible Mind (#3)

It sat on a bench outside the dormitory of nursing students, waiting with its kind’s infinite patience. Originally acquired and programmed for landscaping at the Cleveland Clinic, the synthoid was one of a brigade of units which had been hacked and Munchausened, then returned to their menial daily services to mankind to await the Baron’s call.

There was no adrenalin surge behind the extremely life-like facade of humanity when that call came. Data packets, sent scatter-shot through the Atlas Grid, coalesced at the location outside the Cole Eye Institute, where it methodically trimmed and shaped the immaculate shrubbery around the building. To avoid Q’s metadata sniffing algorithms from detecting a download spike in the grid, the information came in digital sprinkles over the course of its human handler’s work shift, slowly building a malevolent intent to be executed that night. In the middle of the afternoon, it left the topiary unfinished to melt into the hospital shift change and disappeared.

Personality modules were a Gen-3 feature upgrade, which is why the earlier models were initially preferred. Swapping out a few IC chips and uploading hacked firmware was a relatively easy way to turn a quick buck with an automated contract killing. But evil innovates, too, and the same features that made synthoids even more human-like in their behavior also helped create robotic assassins which could better camouflage their malicious intents and evade the reach of the Artificial Crimes Unit by melting into and moving undetected through the humanity that surrounded them. For the Baron, it allowed for a greater measure of artistic expression in programming the synthoid’s behavior to not only recreate infamous crimes of the past, but to mimic the behavior of their perpetrators, which intensified the thrill of watching the video feed through the eyes of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy or, this particular evening, Richard Speck. Jake wasn’t the only history buff and it amused Jamal that London police had photographed the eyes of Jack the Ripper’s victims, hoping to capture the last thing they ever saw: their killer’s face. If only Scotland Yard could have imagined the future.

The Gen-3 personality modules also supported the ANSI Adaptive Artificial Intelligence Protocol #9 to enhance the artificial human experience of real men and women who interacted with synthoids. The constant writing and rewriting of code in the personality/experience loop formed unique individual synthoid consciousnesses, which manufacturers uploaded to their servers for product improvement teams to study. In Munchausened units, that feed was hijacked and routed to another portal in the Darknet to build a collective id of evil.

At eleven PM, it rose from the bench and entered the dormitory. The bodies of nine women would be found the next day, having been strangled and stabbed to death. Unlike 1966, no eyewitness was left alive, though the phrase “Born to Raise Hell” was written on the wall in blood.

About the Author:
M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. During those years, Bass continued to write fiction. He is the author of eight novels: My Brother’s Keeper, Crossroads, In the Black, Somethin’ for Nothin’, Murder by Munchausen, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #2), The Invisible Mind (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #3) and Article 15. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and TechnoThrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

Website: https://www.mtbass.net
Blog: https://www.owl-works.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/owlworks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Owlworks
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/mtbass
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5270962.M_T_Bass

Murder by Munchausen Trilogy Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Munchausen-Trilogy-Future-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07QDGHYZ6
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/murder-by-munchausen-trilogy-books-1-3/id1458934052?mt=11
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1131145794?ean=2940156040681
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/murder-by-munchausen-trilogy
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/932579

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Giveaway – Under The Scrubs by Katerina Baker @KaterinaBaker @SDSXXTours

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Under the Scrubs
by Katerina Baker
Genre: Romantic Suspense
My life is ordinary, steady, predictable. And I’m okay with that. Working long shifts at the hospital is all the excitement I need.
But when a simple rescue-attempt goes wrong,
I find myself in the arms of an arrogant, yet sexy FBI agent.
Kai Evans is what I’d call way out of my league. Yet, we end up dating. Sort of. That’s if you count fast-bike escapes and kissing while bullets fly around us as a date.
While Kai tries to keep me safe and alive, Tyler Moore–an ex FBI agent with a smart mouth–slithers into my life. Turns out, Kai and Taylor have a history. The kind that can’t be erased with a simple handshake.
Now it’s all about settling the score between them, and Taylor has the perfect weapon to use against Kai…
Me.
Katerina Baker is a lucky gal who still attempts to have it all:
full-time project management job that she enjoys, crazy family of four (with the ongoing threats of getting a pet to upset the family equilibrium) and writing.
Although on some days she is much more successful at managing her life than on the others, she still claims that she doesn’t want it any other way.
Katerina’s latest novel Under the Scrubs will be published in the spring of 2019 by Limitless Publishing. Her YA novel Blue is represented by Sharon Belcastro from Belcastro Agency.
Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!
The author is also offering an additional giveaway on Facebook HERE!
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Not The Children…Nine by Jane Blythe @jblytheauthor

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I feel honored to be one of the first to read Nine by Jane Blythe. I have been loving the Count To Ten series, along with her other novels I have read, but this one really blew my mind!

And that cover…has a Mona Lisa feel, until you look closer.

⭒☆ Preorder price $0.99 regular price $3.99 ☆⭒

This title will be auto-delivered to your Kindle on June 1, 2019.

Nine

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Jane Blythe never waits for the danger and the hook and comes out of the gate swinging in Nine, and I fear for some of my favorite characters.

Kidnapping and the murder of young girls.

The villain targets a venue that hits too close to home and the kids are in danger. The serial killer has his sights on young girls and their school. He enjoys watching them suffer, revels in their fear.

Early on I knew what was coming, but Jane doesn’t let it end there. She adds a twist. She takes it to a hand wringing, foot tapping level. Not satisfied with the expected story, she ramps it up. It’s not enough to take me on a rollercoaster ride, she has to have me flying over the edge along with the characters into a pit of hell.

I love that the characters are hard as nails when it comes to their police work and the evil that surrounds them, but as squishy soft as a marshmallow when it comes to the kids in their lives. The characters have been put through hell in previous books but that doesn’t stop Jane from adding to their horrible memories , adults and kids alike. I hate it for them, yet love it for me.

OMG Jane. WTF. Hasn’t everyone suffered enough? Blowing my mind where you have taken this. What does it say about me…that I am loving every minute of it. LOL

I love how dark it gets…and it keeps getting darker.

Best one yet. Mind blowing. Terror and horror fill every page as the end builds to a soul crushing tension that made me put if down, regroup, catch my breath, then pick it up again. I don’t know how she can top this. Give me more.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Nine by Jane Blythe.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5+++++

GOODREADS BLURB

The high school is this killer’s hunting ground.

Girls from the local high school are being abducted. The only link between the cases is that the girls are kept for ninety-nine hours, then drowned and dumped on the doorsteps of their homes with a number nine tattoo on their back. The cops don’t know who they’re looking for but they do know that with the high school as his hunting ground this killer has hundreds of potential victims to choose from.

Fifteen year old Sophie Xander just learned that she was adopted and that her parents have been lying to her her entire life. Angry, hurt, and no longer sure of who she is, Sophie lashes out at her parents, and turns to her new boyfriend for comfort and support. But when she and her best friend are snatched off the streets her family will do whatever it takes to get her back.

** Warning: Graphic violence and themes of sexual assault/abuse **

ABOUT JANE BLYTHE

Jane has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in because, well, who doesn’t love romance? She has one completed series, Detective Parker Bell, and one new series, Count to Ten.

When she’s not writing Jane loves to read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies. She has a black belt in Taekwondo, and a 200+ collection of teddy bears. She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

MY REVIEWS FOR JANE BLYTHE’S BOOKS

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Giveaway – He’s A Brute by Chloe Liese @XpressoTours @chloe_liese

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He’s a Brute
Chloe Liese
(Tough Love, #1)
Publication date: May 6th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

One dark and handsome control-freak sports star meets one smarty pants bioengineer with hair to match her fiery temper. It’s an experiment straight out of sexual thermodynamics.

Every good scientist knows the second law of thermodynamics: the universe’s disorder, entropy, is always increasing. Professionally and personally speaking, Nairne’s familiar with the principle. After a streak of costly fame, now she’s set on saving the world, microscope in hand, and there’s no time for romance. Problem is, when a rude, despicably sexy Adonis shows up to run their board meeting, chemistry and its ensuing chaos become more than a formula—now they’re a burning hot reality.

Mafia prince. Professional footballer. Bad boy demeanor and a reputation for being as talented between the sheets as he is on the pitch. Rumors are the man’s an absolute brute. And he turns out to be just as demanding, controlling and vicious in person as he is on paper. The Law of Attraction’s proven true, as Nairne finds herself accepting Zed’s proposal: rough, wild stress release, more orgasms than she can count, and most importantly—no falling in love.

Agreement in place. End date secured.

No attachments. No forever.

What could possibly go wrong?

Book One in the Tough Love Series—an enemies to lovers, suspenseful romance, full of sexy Italians, bedroom negotiations, feisty heroines, and an ending that’ll both satisfy you and leave you ready for more!”

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

I took a few careful steps toward her because something about her made me uneasy. From the other end of the table, she’d been lovely. A pretty face with a pouty frown. By the time I was one third the way down the conference table toward her, she was devastating. I stopped because she was affecting me plenty from twelve feet away. Long and glossy dark auburn hair. Ivory skin. Fine bones, a smattering of freckles, and a warm glow to her cheeks. Her eyes were the real showstopper, though. They were an unfairly high chroma green, like blades of grass darkened after rain. They glittered with defiance and not a little contempt for me as she spoke.

“Understood, Mr. Salvatore. I look forward to showing you how misplaced your concern is. Until then, I’ll remember not to take such stingy optimism personally.”

No one spoke to me like that. I was Zedekiah Lazaro Salvatore, Deirdre O’Shea and Brando Salvatore’s firstborn. Boston fucking royalty, king of the soccer field, and prince of the city’s Italian criminal underworld. People kissed my ass and rolled out the red carpet. They bowed their heads and averted their eyes. Nobody gave me shit. Except Nairne MacGregor, apparently.

I dropped my grip on my jacket to hide the boner her sharp mouth gave me and feigned a smile. “You’ll excuse me.”

Waiting for her polite acknowledgment was out of the question. If I stuck around, she’d know exactly what her sass did to my body. I stormed out, knocked shoulders with someone and muttered an apology, then barreled toward the exit. I wasn’t normally clumsy—both of my professions were predicated on exceptional coordination and hyper-awareness—but I chalked it up to ninety-five percent of my blood gathering in my dick rather than my brain. Finally, I landed outside where I sucked in a breath and oriented myself.

Observing her during the meeting had been torture. Elbow on the table, jotting things down then setting her pen exactly parallel to the paper’s edge. Precise. Perfectionist. She’d listened while her wide green eyes darted between people as they spoke. Nairne was neurotically observant, cunning even. Watching her gears turning had turned me on. Big time.

She hadn’t spoken much, but when she had, I’d noted her vowels were off. She had an accent, and it wasn’t Southie. I couldn’t place it, and just like her hair that wouldn’t make up its mind between mahogany and rich red, her speech was another wrinkle in my morning. I’d never been this simultaneously annoyed and aroused.


Author Bio:

Chloe’s always been a sucker for a suspenseful steamy romance, ever since she managed to find the one saucy mystery series hiding in her high school’s prim little library. Nothing drives her crazier than a story that cranks up the heat, then closes the door on the reader’s face, so don’t read her books if you don’t want to know what actually happens when the lights fade to black…

When she’s not writing, Chloe’s busy reading books of all genres, rereading Harry Potter (which she can’t help but make her characters similarly obsessed over), and playing catch-up with her bad@$$ little girls. She’s also been known to scramble around the pitch for a pick-up soccer match and run along the river while dreaming up her next book.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter


GIVEAWAY!
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A War Is Brewing – Devil’s Dance by Jeff Altabef @jeffaltabef

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Such a fabulous cover for Jeff Altabef’s Devil’s Dance.

Publisher: Evolved Publishing

Devil's Dance: A Gripping Supernatural Thriller (A Nephilim Thriller Book 2)

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

It is the future, 2042, and he is a killer, a warrior for the angels in the upcoming battle between good and evil. He is a Nephilim, born from a human mother and an angel father, fighting on the side of the angels in the coming Great Struggle.

Technology…to the point where what you see is not always what you get. What looks all shiny and new can be a pile of junk.

Very interesting technological angle. I love a story that makes me question…Just because we can,, should we?

Then my conspiracy gene rises up…is there an ulterior motive?

Devil’s Dance is the second book in the in this thrilling Nephilim series. Jeff Altabef does a fantastic job of creating a world of possibilities and humanity’s ability to rise to the occasion. I love stories of battles between good and evil with otherworldly characters. They make me stretch my imagination and let the author take me away…into a fantasy world where everything is possible.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Devil’s Dance by Jeff Altabef.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

An amazing new technology engineered to make people smarter, a series of gruesome murders, and a mystery so dark, it threatens everyone.

I’m a Nephilim, born of a fallen angel father and a human mother. This makes me special in ways I don’t fully comprehend yet.

A war is brewing between angels and demons, and like it or not, we’ll all have to choose sides. I’ve chosen the side of angels, a curious decision for me, not only because I’m a killer, but because I enjoy killing. Still, an angel promised me that redemption is possible—even for me—and he needed warriors on his side. Did he tell me the truth? I hope so, but who can I trust?

In a small, sleepy, tourist town, an old friend asks me to help solve a series of gruesome murders that have been plaguing the town, but these aren’t just random crimes. Somehow, they’re connected to this war between angels and demons. I prefer working alone, not having to worry about others, but I team up with a self-described anti-technology hooligan, and a beautiful bartender I immediately fall for. If only they knew what I know. The foe we’re facing is way more powerful than anything they can imagine.

I must solve the mystery before it’s too late, because I’m certain of this one thing: everyone’s soul is at stake.

EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS an intriguing, thrilling look inside a great battle between good and evil, with the second book in the award-winning “A Nephilim Thriller” series. [DRM-Free]

ABOUT JEFF ALTABEF

Jeff Altabef is an award-winning author who lives in New York with his wife, two daughters, and Charlie the dog. He spends time volunteering at the writing center in the local community college. After years of being accused of “telling stories,” he thought he would make it official. He writes in both the thriller and young adult genres. Fourteenth Colony, a political thriller, was his debut novel. Evolved Publishing has published Jeff’s second thriller, Shatter Point, which won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Fall 2014 in the category of Best Thriller.Jeff’s first young adult novel, Wind Catcher: A Chosen Novel will be published in March by Evolved Publishing. He’s extremely excited that his daughter, Erynn Altabef, is his co-author on the Chosen Series. As an avid Knicks fan, Jeff is prone to long periods of melancholy during hoops season. Jeff has a column on The Examiner focused on writing and a blog designed to encourage writing by those that like telling stories.

You can follow Jeff on Facebook, Twitter, or join his newsletter!

MY JEFF ALTABEF REVIEWS

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Giveaway – Chance Series by J Bliss @jblissauthor @XpressoTours

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Not By Chance
J. Bliss
(Chance, #1)
Publication date: June 5th 2017
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

Drew Rodd has the desire to escape the shadow of his parents and avoid following in the footsteps of his father and his destructive tendencies. At just twenty-four, Drew is promoted to Executive Director at Rival Tech.

Drew’s way of life involves a constant struggle with his father’s devious intentions and manipulations. He is always seeking to prick and prod Drew to advance and become a pawn to further his own success. Drew is determined to value his hate to get ahead professionally, but the beasts from his past keep lurking.

Jasmine Chance is in her last year of college, a challenge she chose after suffering through physical abuse and leaving home without ever looking back. She has done all she can to carry on toward graduating with her college degree, she believes a brighter future will keep her away from the nightmare that was her childhood.
However, her life changes forever the day she met Drew.

A dinner party draws the two together in an electrifying way. After being preyed upon by their pasts, they stick together closely as a couple once their life circles out of whack. Will their electrifying romance be their saving grace or will it destroy them?

The complete series:

Goodreads / Amazon


You may want to bookmark the page or make a note on your calendar for the special pricing during the tour:

Not by Chance is Free May 1, and 8-10
Taking Chances is 99 cents April 28- May 1st,
Last Chance is at 99 cents May 1st-6th

EXCERPT

Drew

I grab my phone dialing. “Stanley, we are coming out in five.” I hang up the phone and Jasmine walks out in these nice fitting jeans holding a bag and her purse. “Damn, Jasmine. You know I can get through those.”

I reach my hand out to take her bag. “I can carry my bag, Drew. You don’t have enough time to get me out these jeans.”

Why is she so determined to not let me hold this bag? I grab the bag. “Let it go.” She releases her grip. “That’s not so bad, now is it?” She sighs, holding on to her purse. The way that shirt is snuggled up on her breasts has every bit of my attention.

She is looking up shaking her head as if I said something inappropriate. “I guess Drew, it’s just a bag. Get your thoughts situated, I can tell what you are thinking by the look on your face.”

Fuck, she can’t be reading my face. We walk towards the door. I grab her keys off the wall. “I’ll lock up. Stanley is driving so you don’t need your keys.”

She sips in a deep breath. I can tell she wants to be in control. I insert the key locking the door and we walk to the car. Stanley has the door open and she looks up to me saying, “How did you get here?”

“A cab, why?” Her curiosity is growing a bit much more than I expected. Typically, girls don’t ask me anything. Stanley tilts his head taking the bag from me.

Jasmine steps ahead of me. “Thank you, Stanley.”

“You are most welcome, Jasmine.”

Wow, these two are on first name basis. I smirk as I get in after her. Jasmine looks back at me. “Why did you get a cab? Is something wrong with your car?”

“No. Just relax.” I get a card out from my shirt pocket and pass it to her. She opens it with a girlish smile on her face and reads it aloud.

“I’m going for more than thoughtful.”

She smiles at me. I knew I’d won her heart the way she looked at me. All of this is going too fast, faster than I’d ever imagined. Who am I kidding, this is a feeling I never imagined. She looks at me blushing, and with a magical breath she says, “Always with you.”

Damn, if this is what I feel like hearing her say this I don’t know how love might make me feel like. I pull her in close to me and kiss her. “Hey, keep your hands off we will be at the house in twenty minutes.” She twists her lips up and laughs softly.

***

Jasmine

Drew acts like he’s meeting my mom. He needs to calm down, Chantal and Victoria will not be on time. I don’t understand his rushing. I can hear his feet pacing in the living room. I start applying my lotion; with only my jewelry to put on, I will be complete. I take one more look at my eye shadow as I face the mirror and shout, “I will be out in a minute, Drew.”

His footsteps sound like they are much closer. “Baby, open the door. I’m sure you are ready. In ten minutes, Rom will be there.”

I look around the bathroom noticing my stuff all around the floor. Why is his bathroom so massive, it’s just one Andrew here. I did enjoy his double sit-down shower though. I begin gathering my stuff.

 “I will be out in a minute. Why will Romel be there twenty minutes before seven?” I pick up my jeans and stuff them in the bag.

Drew takes a deep breath, I can tell he is trying to stay calm, “Jasmine, open the door or…”

I shout from the other side of the door, “Drew, okay I will in a…” I hear the door unlock. Damn, Drew looks delicious in those jeans. “Why did you open the door?”

“Baby. You look beautiful…you do know I can open any door here.” He smirks looking at me. “Including that one between your thighs.”

“Boy, hush, I don’t get it. I told you seven, why are you in a rush?” I walk out of the bathroom and Drew’s eyes are following my every movement.

“Jasmine, seven means be there at seven, not leave at seven. We are late.” I place my bag on his plush king size bed and he follows behind me placing it in a closet. He walks back over to his bed to wipe out the wrinkles. He is such a neat freak.

“Drew, it’s 6:45, the place is around the corner. I know my girls and they will not be there.”

“Sweetheart, it’s not polite to keep people waiting. Have I kept you waiting?” Drew walks up from behind me wrapping his arms around me. I look up at him saying,

“No, you haven’t, Mr. Thoughtful. I’m ready to go.” He picks me up and rushes to the elevator.

***

Author Bio:

J. Bliss Influenced by, Maya Angelo, Terry McMillan, and her own mother’s prestigious writing, J. Bliss began writing stimulating poetry at the age of thirteen. She dreamt of being an author and never gave up on the passion deep to write that she held within herself.

Her first novel originated from a past radio talk show she was the host of, based on many callers that spoke about having marital problems, most of which stemmed from a lack of intimacy. Drawing from her own experiences and struggles, she felt compelled to write Lovers of Convenience leading to Not by Chance.

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Excerpt For The Desire Card by Lee Matthew Goldberg @LeeMatthewG @pumpupyourbook

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THE DESIRE CARD by Lee Matthew Goldberg, Crime/Suspense, 299 pp., $13.29 (paperback) $3.99 (Kindle)

Title: THE DESIRE CARD
Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg
Publisher: Fahrenheit Press
Pages: TBA
Genre: Crime/Suspense


Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the Desire Card gives to its elite clients. But if the Card doesn’t feel like they’ve been justly compensated, the “price” will be more menacing than the clients could ever imagine.

Harrison Stockton learns this lesson all too well. Harrison has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street along with a fondness for alcohol and pills, and a family he adores, yet has no time for. All of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his executive job and discovers he has liver cirrhosis with mere months left to live.

After finding himself far down on the donor list, Harrison takes matters into his own hands. This decision sparks a gritty and gripping quest that takes him to the slums of Mumbai in search of a black market organ and forces him under the Desire Card’s thumb. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what’s right and put a stop to the Card.

THE DESIRE CARD is a taut international thriller that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn’t always enough to get everything he desires. It’s the first book in a series followed by PREY NO MORE that focuses on other people indebted to this sinister organization, where the actual price is the cost of one’s soul.

PRAISE:

“Careful what you wish for, especially from a nefarious shadow organization, in this gripping start to Lee Matthew Goldberg’s fast-paced, highly compelling, buzz worthy new series. If you love characters morally compromised, richly drawn, and constantly surprising, you’ll love THE DESIRE CARD. I burned through the first book and can’t wait to get my hands on PREY NO MORE to see where this endlessly exciting story takes me next! Loved it!” – Daniel Palmer, critically acclaimed suspense author

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______________________



HARRISON STUMBLED INTO CENTRAL PARK CLUTCHING THE SILVER BRIEFCASE, HIS BODY SHAKING FROM BEING HUNTED. Clouds clogged the sky. The trees seemed like creatures towering over him. He turned around to see the man in the Humphrey Bogart mask running toward the entrance, a gun bulging from the guy’s inside pocket. The man’s cold eyes scanned the park, zeroing in. Harrison took off down a dirt path until he was alone with only the wind ringing in his ears.
He wanted to collapse; he begged himself to just give in. Nature would destroy him soon anyway, and his shins were starting to feel like they’d been repeatedly stabbed. He coughed up an excess of blood and mucus that spilled down a rock. Now he’d gone so far down the trail that he couldn’t see where he entered. The sound of footsteps came from all directions. A distorted laugh caused all the nearby pigeons to shoot toward the sky. The laugh was followed by an eerie whistle that became louder and louder as he spun around expecting to see his pursuer.
A shadow passed behind a tree, bigger than any animal. He propped himself up against a rock, too exhausted to move any farther, closing his eyes and waiting to die. He could see tomorrow’s headlines declaring his death as a mugging gone wrong.
“Gracie,” he cried, trembling. “Brent, my boy…oh God.”
He had pissed himself now, the urine hot and sticky as it trickled down his pants leg. He still held the silver briefcase close to his chest, resolving not to let it go without a fight.
The man in the Bogart mask emerged from behind a tree holding a gun.
“Just hand it over, Mr. Stockton,” the man said. The voice box attached to his mouth made him sound robotic, weirdly calm. “You don’t want this to get any more complicated than it already has.”
The man made a grab for the briefcase, but Harrison held on tight.
“You’ll kill me anyway,” Harrison yelled, spooking any pigeons that hadn’t already flown away.
“Only if you force me to do so.”
The man kicked Harrison in the shin, causing him to nearly buckle over. Harrison was thrown to the ground, the man pinning him down. He still managed to hold onto the briefcase as if it was fused to his hand.
 “The Boss doesn’t know about what you’ve done yet,” the man said, hitting Harrison’s head against the hard dirt. “Do you understand what that means? That means you can still live. And he’ll never find out as long as we get what we’re owed.”
“Why would you do that for me?” he asked, seeing four masked men spinning around.
The man stepped back and pointed the gun between Harrison’s eyes.
“The Boss doesn’t like when things don’t go according to plan. I could be in as much trouble as you for letting this slip-up happen. So let’s make this easy for both of us.”
Harrison got on one elbow and hoisted himself up.
“Do I have your word?”
The man nodded.
“And my family? My wife…my kids? I wouldn’t have to worry about them being hurt?”
“As much as you might think that you are our sole concern, we have an entire organization to run beyond your pithy life. Now I will count to ten and if you don’t hand over the briefcase, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” 
Harrison thought about what his life had really amounted to. All the hours he’d slaved at Sanford & Co., making rich people boatloads richer. Getting into the office before dawn and often heading home in the middle of the night. Sacrificing his family, his youth, his sanity. How it had made him into a drinker, a serial gorger of all vices, just so he could forget about what he was losing. After all of that, what did he have left to show?
“…8…9…10,” the man said, about to pull the trigger.
“All right, all right.”
Harrison handed over the briefcase. The man opened it up and appeared to be satisfied, a smirking grin visible through his mask.
“I’ll leave you with this nugget of wisdom,” he said, without putting the gun away. “If what you did manages to compromise us in any way, if there are any rippling after-effects, be prepared to come across the Boss. He’s known to wear a Clark Gable mask.” The man’s smirk had disappeared. “He only appears when he’s ready to bloody his hands. Good day, Mr. Stockton.”
“Who are you people? Under the masks…who are you really?”
The man raised the gun over Harrison’s head.
“I doubt you’ll ever find out,” he said, and struck Harrison on the forehead with the handle.
A trickle of blood spilled down Harrison’s nose and felt cold on his tongue. He slunk down and rested his cheek against the dirt, watching the man in the mask take off through the trees, the silver briefcase shining like a beam of light snaking through the leaves. And then the man finally disappeared—as if he was nothing more than a nightmare brought to life and extinguished once the fitful dreamer finally woke.
Harrison pressed against his rib cage and felt for his engorged liver. Cursed at it. Wanted to tear it from his stomach. He’d been poisoned from within for too long, his unending punishment for all of his crimes. Blood zigzagged into his eyes as the wound on his forehead opened up even more. With his other hand he reached into his pocket and removed his wallet. A thin metallic card fell from out of a sleeve and sat in a puddle of blood that had collected in the dirt.
            He crumpled it up in his fist since it was responsible for letting these psychopaths into his life. He knew he’d never feel completely settled again, always worried that they might come after him and his family. The Desire Card had caused him to seek out gruesome and despicable wishes. From the instant this devil’s temptation had been placed in his hands, his moral compass never stood a chance. So he chucked it into the air and watched it sail over the rocks for some other fool to find.
            “I’m sorry, Helene,” he mumbled to the wind. He knew he’d have to come clean about everything. His head throbbed, and he recalled a memory from twenty-five years ago. Spying her in the quad at Chilton College drinking a cherry Coke, tan and shapely from field hockey, the entire campus becoming muted except for her. He took a chance by flirting miserably and changing the course of their lives.
She would’ve been better off if they had never met. In such a short amount of time, he’d fallen so far. Now because of him people had been sliced up, left for dead, and soon he’d follow them to his own grave. As he drifted off into unconsciousness, he remembered that it all began to spiral out of control on his last day at Sanford & Co. over a month ago, this treacherous path he embarked on, his dark and dried-up destiny. 




Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR (St. Martin’s Press), which was acquired by Macmillan Entertainment with the film in development. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The first two books in a thriller series, THE DESIRE CARD and PREY NO MORE, are forthcoming from Fahrenheit Press in winter 2019. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG.

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Giveaway – Cut Reality by Zack Hacker @SDSXXTours #ZackHacker

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Cut Reality
by Zack Hacker
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense

When the specter of death comes to reality TV, who’s to blame?

After a reality television competitor dies during filming, it sends the cast reeling. Follow Jason Debord as he takes on the role of amateur detective to gain clarity into the death of a reality TV co-star and ends up uncovering criminal conspiracy.
When Jason returned home from competing on Beached, he’d lost weight, couldn’t sleep, and felt more alone than ever. But he expected those changes. Jason had no way to predict that one of his fellow competitors would fling himself from a cliff. Unless he didn’t. Jason can’t believe it, but the network presents coverage of the alleged suicide to the world.
Seeing motive in every crew member’s movements, Jason compiles evidence of conspiracy, only to be met with resistance from the cast and network alike. He persists only through the support of his developing relationship with Blake, a psychologist who observes alarming similarities between her patient and her partner. Events in Cut Reality have a variety of interpretations. Ultimately, Jason has to decide while under the watchful eye of the public: is his understanding too coincidental to be believed, or so shocking because it’s his new reality.
Zack Hacker’s debut novel will please fans of reality television and psychological thrillers alike. If you enjoy Survivor, Big Brother, The Amazing Race, MTV’s The Challenge, or other works of character-driven suspense, don’t miss this highly anticipated release.
Zack Hacker was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he currently teaches English and Creative Writing. He is a graduate of Mount Saint Joseph University and received his M.A. in English from Case Western Reserve University. He lives with his wife and three cats, watches too much reality TV, and plans travel experiences. Cut Reality is his debut novel.
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  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
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  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
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